Student Loans help
 

Hi all, I'm crashing from UK-Yankee as an American expat in the UK who needs your particular expertise. Hope you don't mind helping another expat going the other way around.

My husband and I both went to the same uni in the States, which is how we met. We have now been selected as ambassadors for the alumni association and are supporting a handful of our friends kids who are interested in possibly studying there too.

The problem we are hitting is finding ways that they can fund study abroad if they want to do a full course there and not just an exchange or such. I'm afraid I may know the answer, but is anyone aware of ways that UK students can secure funding for university studies away from the UK? I don't believe there is anything with the government, but even if there are private loans, we'd like some ideas since they will need to show the funding in order to get the visa for the US. Any ideas/sources would be very, very appreciated! Thanks!

Re: Student Loans help
 

Apart from exchange routes?

Private student loans. They're shit though, compared to the SLC's, but that would be it, unless they have parents willing to pay, or have jobs that have student tuition costs as a benefit.

As a F1 student, they won't be able to work in the US for the first semester. After that, it's limited to 20 hours on campus work only, which as you know tends to be pretty limited to work study students.

If these kids had parents working in the US, depending on the state and the college, they might become eligible for in-state tuition after a year, but then again they might not.

Re: Student Loans help
 

See, we're struggling to find even private loans. If anyone can point me in that direction to even give us an idea of not great stuff that's out there, I'd appreciate it.

I'm starting to be very, very grateful my DH's parents had the means of showing ability to finance him when he went to the US years ago. I hadn't realised how hard it was for British students to go over since I assumed there was something like the US system that allows you to transfer loans to overseas universities.

Re: Student Loans help
 

The US system has curtailed a fair bit, but it's okay for most undergrad stuff.

Anyway, years back since I looked, but pretty sure HSBC go a graduate student loans program, so they might be worth asking first of, but the rates were pretty dire once you graduated.

Barclays also offered something, but no idea if they still do.

Re: Student Loans help
 

I got a private TERI (www.teri.org) loan when I did my initial graduate work in the US, but they stopped funding after the economic collapse a few years ago. Still, that's the sort of place that might be able to help you. Perhaps they'll know of other funding sources.

Ian

Re: Student Loans help
 

Have you tried applying using scholarship?

Re: Student Loans help
 

Grants/Loans from the Alumni Association.